


Centaur Paradise

by CrimsonWolfKo



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Drama, F/M, Fluff and Smut, Mystical Creatures, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Romance, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-11
Updated: 2019-09-17
Packaged: 2020-11-02 03:29:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20607308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrimsonWolfKo/pseuds/CrimsonWolfKo
Summary: AU-Centaurs and humans once lived together but something happened that changed everything. What happens when Levy's curiosity gets the best of her? Is what the books say about centaurs true? Levy is taking it upon herself to figure what had happened all those years ago and to see what centaurs are truly like. But what happens when she gets more than what she bargained for?





	1. Curiosity

**Author's Note:**

> This story will have a lot of mythical creatures from many guilds and will promise to be quite the roller coaster of emotions for all that read it. Enjoy!

AN: Chapter 1  
Ok so this story is an AU revolving around centaurs. It started out as a joke between myself and my friends but the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to try to write a story like this so I’m going to give it a shot.  
This story will mainly revolve around Gajeel and Levy, but with some other Fairy Tail members thrown in as well. (Rated M for violence, language, and possible smut in later chapters.)

* * *

The world was once filled with centaurs and humans, living together in peace. It was said they worked together, caring for the land, teaching each other magic, and fighting side by side in battle. The first centaur to come into contact with the humans was a young and quite small being from the forest. She had very long, wavy, blonde hair with a single lock pointed upwards. Her centaur body looked like one of a small child centaur and dawned the golden color of her hair over her centaur half. Her tail was blonde and wavy as her golden locks, and perhaps, just as long. Her top half was covered by a frilly, pink top covering up her shoulders and back with long sleeves concealing her arms. Her chest was covered by three blue diamond patterned fabrics that went down the rest of her midriff to her waist where her golden centaur body began. With a red ribbon tied in a bow around her neck and wing-like adornments around her small ears, anyone could mistake her for a young centaur. She sought out humans with a smile on her face, with open arms and an open mind. Her name was Mavis and she ruled over all other centaurs living in the forest with her.

  
For many years, she came down to the villages, introducing more centaurs each time, wanting to share their wisdom with the humans. Humans at that time were suffering for they couldn’t figure out how to keep their crops from dying or their livestock protected from predators. Mavis had met with the human council and together they all had decided to have centaurs start living with the humans. To teach them how to grow crops properly, to help keep their livestock protected, and to teach certain magic’s to help the land. The centaurs eventually helped train the humans for battle, in case such a thing would ever happen. Every year since Mavis had appeared to them, the humans would hold a festival celebrating and honoring the centaurs for helping them in their darkest time.

  
It was always a happy time at the festivals. Centaurs and people dancing, laughing, and celebrating together. It was all that Mavis had ever wanted. She wanted there to be peace between the two different species and wanted humans and centaurs to live as one.

  
The happiness shared would not last long as one day, a scout entered the meeting that was being held between Mavis and the humans. He was panting heavily as he leaned forward, bracing himself on his knees with his hands. A solider placed a hand on the young scouts’ shoulders, asking him what it was he had seen. The young boy looked up to Mavis and the other council members. “It’s… it’s…”

  
Mavis and the other members watched the boy, all of them holding their breath as they waited for the young lad to get his words out. The guard standing next to the scout grew more impatient by the minute. He gripped the boys’ shoulders, shaking him slightly in frustration. “Spit it out son! What did you see out there?!”

  
The boy looked up, fear consuming his entire body as he spoke. “I-it’s… Master Hades…”

  
Mavis’s solid green eyes widened as the rest of the council gasped and began to talk to one another in a panic. Mavis closed her eyes quietly folding her arms over her stomach. The humans around her began to yell at one another at what they should do. They shouted over each other, some saying they should flee, to go find a new place to live, others said they should stand their ground and fight against the intruder invading their lands. A tall man stood, slamming his hands on the table as he raised his voice over all others around him.

  
“That’s enough! All of you!” The other council members stopped arguing amongst themselves and looked to the tall man. He had a muscular build with tanned skin. He had a chin curtain beard, with several lines of facial hair around his mouth shooting upwards, making it a very unique-looking. One would say the man standing before them looked almost evil by the way the rest of his face was formed. Prominent cheek bones, a long and oddly shaped nose, large triangular eyebrows and beady black eyes. He spoke once more as the rest of the members began to calm down. “We need to protect our lands and what we have accomplished over these years. Mavis and the other centaurs have helped us with so many things, one of them being fighting. I believe our soldiers are ready for battle. We need to stand and fight.” The man looked to Mavis, holding a hand out towards her. “What say you, Mavis? Will you fight with us? Humans and centaurs working together? Let us push back Hades and his army! Together I know we can win!”

  
Mavis opened her eyes slowly, peering up to the man standing at the table. Her voice was soft as she spoke. “My people have shown the humans how to protect themselves against others. I cannot ask my own people to risk their lives for something that does not concern them.”

  
The man clenched his fists tightly as he spoke out of anger. “You made a promise to us! You promised to help! You have to fight beside us!”

  
Solid green eyes closed once more as Mavis stood there silently. A few minutes later, the ruler over the centaurs opened her eyes, now full of confidence and determination. “But as a centaur, I cannot break a promise that was made long ago. I will gather a small army when I return to the forest. We will fight alongside the humans.”

  
The man grinned as the other council members rejoiced. Mavis watched the tall human grin back at her as the others began to talk about the battle preparations. The golden centaur turned and headed out of the council room, her long tail trailing behind her. Once outside, she was greeted by one of her personal guards. She motioned him to walk alongside her, away from the humans.

  
“I do not trust Ivan… I want to help these humans and keep them safe, along with our people… but I have a feeling he is up to something.”

  
The centaur beside her raised an eyebrow as he spoke. “What makes you say that, Master Mavis?”  
Mavis looked straight ahead as they walked, her eyebrows crossed down angrily. “He was the only one who remained calm when the scout told us about Hades….”

  
The centaur walking beside Mavis clenched his long spear as he glanced back over his shoulder. “Do you think it is a trap?”

  
“Yes. I do. But a promise is a promise. We must fight. Just warn the others.”

  
The centaur bowed his head to Mavis as they walked. “Of course. We will be ready for anything.”

* * *

Levy closed the aged book and sighed softly to herself. She looked at the stack of old books beside her as she put her chin into the palm of her hand. “This isn’t getting me anywhere…. None of these books explain why we are hunting centaurs for sport.” The blue haired girl opened the book she had just read and continued to read over the dusty pages. “I just don’t understand… what happened all those years ago? It says here that we were friends with the centaurs and they joined us in the battle against Hades… but after that…” Levy’s words seemed to fade as she turned the page. “There’s nothing.” The girl closed the book and shoved it to the stack of old books she had already read through. “Nothing here is helping me figure this out.” Levy sighed as she rested her head over her arms on the small desk she sat at. She closed her eyelids halfway, covering up her hazel eyes slightly as they scanned the other books in front of her.

  
Her eyes scanned down the multiple books placed neatly on the desk. One in particular caught her eyes as she looked over the aged hardcovered prints. It had a dark green binding and it looked like it had been untouched in a very long time. Levy moved the other books away from the one she had singled out quickly and opened it, immediately flipping through the pages.

  
“Having the head, neck, chest, and arms of a man and the body and legs of a horse, most centaurs were considered to be brutal, violent creatures. Highly known for their drunkenness and lawless behavior, these creatures have been known to take down armies of tremendous sizes. Centaurs used tree trunks and slabs of stone as weapons while in battle, along with spears and arrows, crafted from the bones of wild animals they killed. They also have a tendency to kidnap young woman, keeping them for their own personal gain, or keep them as their prisoners, and eventually killing them for fun.” Levy turned the page quickly, not wanting to believe in anything in the book she had opened. “Though humans and centaurs have once lived together in harmony, there are no known weaknesses….” Levy looked up in horror. “This book can’t be right. There’s no way the centaurs were always like this.”  
The blue haired girl turned her head quickly towards the library doors as she heard someone turning the handles to enter. She quickly blew out her candle as she stood, grabbing a few more books as she moved into the shadows. A tall man stepped into the library, shining a light in with his torch he carried. He looked around the room, not seeing anyone in there but noticing the small candle on one of the many desks in the library. The man stepped inside and walked over to the desk, holding the torch up to see what books had been searched through. The man lifted up the dark green book about centaurs, looking over the open page. Levy held her breath as the man set the book back down on the desk, lifting up the torch and shining its light around the library.

  
Minutes went by before the man left the room, allowing Levy to let out a sigh of relief. She relaxed slightly and looked around the corner of a large book shelf. She turned her gaze down to the few books she had grabbed. ‘I have to know… I need to know what happened to all of the centaurs… but how? These books are telling me nothing.’ Her hazel eyes glanced back towards the desk where the green book was left open. Levy bit her bottom lip and reached out for the book, closing its pages and placing it in her arms along with the other books she held in her small arms.

  
The blue-haired girl quickly and quietly got up and headed for the library door the man had just exited. She paused with her hand on the handle as she heard voices just outside of the room. She leaned in closely, placing her ear to the wooden door.

  
“Yeah I hear there’s been centaur sightings nearby. We’re supposed to head out in the morning for the hunt.”

  
Another man outside began to speak. “It’s just a rumor, right? I thought we wiped out all the centaurs years ago.”

  
The first man spoke again, worry sounding in his voice. “Didn’t you see what was left of the last hunting party?!”

  
The second man spoke, slightly confused. “I thought only three came back last time.”

  
“Exactly! Three out of ten showed back up! They said they were ambushed! All they remember is seeing red flames come out of nowhere then something else came from behind them and the one guy told me he swore he saw a black figure with crimson red eyes, like it was death himself coming for his soul! They got lucky and only had a few broken bones… but I think the centaurs let them leave as a warning not to come back to the forest. Hell knows I don’t want to go out there!”

  
The second man gulped and spoke with fear in his voice. “Y-yeah but it’s our duty. Whatever the princess and council tell us to do, we must follow orders. E-even if there is a demon amongst the centaurs, we have to be ready and willing to die for our land. What happens if we don’t fight back and the centaurs’ decide to take over the castle?!”

  
“Oh man! I don’t want to think about that… they would probably enslave us men and do God knows what to the women. End up killing us all in the end I’m sure.”

Levy’s eyes widened as she listened to the men talk. ‘_Is all of this true?’_

  
Both men’s voices faded as they both headed back to their posts outside. Levy waited another moment before poking her head out from the doors. Seeing that the hallway was clear, she slipped out from the library and closed the heavy doors slowly. She made her way through the castle back to her room. She closed her door and locked it quickly, not wanting to be bothered if anyone had heard her. Levy set down her newly found books on her nightstand and crawled into her bed. She pulled her headband off from her head, and ran her fingers through her thick blue hair. Her hazel eyes glanced out the nearby window out to the forest below. Deep down Levy was terrified of the thought about venturing out to the forest alone, but a part of her needed to know. What were they really like? What happened all those years ago with Mavis? What happened to the centaurs?

  
For all she knew, there really weren’t any centaurs left on the face of the earth, and all of this was just said to cover up something bigger. Levy shook her head as she threw her body back onto the bed. She let out a sigh as she looked up at the stone ceiling. After a minute, the young girl made fists with her hands in determination. “I’m just going to have to go see for myself tomorrow! I’ll sneak out of here and follow them to the forest. I just need to know if there are still centaurs out there. I want to know what they are really like. If things get a little too crazy, I can just slip away. I don’t think they would notice a girl my size.” Levy smiled to herself and rolled over, staring back out the window in to the night sky. “Tomorrow…” The blue haired girl said as her eyelids became heavy. “I will find out the truth.”

* * *

Levy woke early the next morning, quickly getting dressed for the day. She decided to wear something easy to move around in, just in case she had to make a run back to the castle if things got too crazy. She wore a strapless yellow bra, with a green vest covering up her back and some of her front, leaving her stomach exposed quite a bit. She pulled up a pair of white shorts, slipping a brown belt through her belt loops. Levy wrapped an orange head band over her hair to keep it back some, letting her bangs flow freely. Lastly Levy put on her sandals, tying them up by her ankles. She looked around her room and grabbed her small red bag, packing only a few things with her.

  
With the commotion of the hunt about to start, Levy was easily able to slip out of the castle through the back entrance, waiting for the men to head to the forest. She could hear the commander barking orders to his men, preparing to set out. The blue-haired girl looked around the castle wall and saw the men swapping weapons and putting on their armor. Within the half hour, the men had set out in search for the centaurs, walking on foot to the forest that shared their land. Levy trailed behind a good distance until they reached the forest. She made sure to stay out of sight but still close enough to see the centaurs if they were to attack. The small girl could feel her heart pounding in her chest, finding it difficult to breathe softly. She was both excited and quite fearful of what she might see or find in this forest.

  
Hours had passed before the soldiers reached the heart of the forest. All of them were on their toes, their eyes peering around, stepping quietly as they walked. Levy hid in the thick brush that followed the path the soldiers took. She watched them, occasionally stopping to scan the rest of her surroundings, taking mental notes in case things got too intense. Levy looked down at her feet and frowned. ‘_Ugh, my feet are totally killing me… I should have worn more comfortable shoes_.’ She let out a soft sigh as she rubbed the back of her ankle. ‘_But then again I honestly thought we would come across centaurs by now… maybe there really aren’t any alive….’_

  
Just as Levy finished her thought, she could hear screaming coming from one of the men. Her hazel eyes shot back up towards the small group. Just as they said before, flames had appeared out of nowhere, surrounding the men, trapping them all in a wide circle. Levys’ hands gripped her red strap attached to her bag tightly in fear as her heart raced. She watched as the flames increased around the men. The blue-haired girl could feel the heat getting closer to the brush she hid behind. Her hazel eyes looked around furiously for any sign of the centaurs when a large dark figure jumped over the flames, landing in the middle of the circle of soldiers. All Levy could see were those crimson red orbs and a white grin before the flames grew higher in front of her.

  
The figure carried a long spear in one hand, pointing one end towards the commander. She could hear his voice as he spoke. “Nice of you to come visit us. But now it’s time for some fun. Didn’t like our last message, did ya?”

  
Another voice could be heard from behind the first creature. “Hey! Gajeel! Take it easy on these guys this time! You know were not supposed to kill em.” Levy could hear knuckles cracking in the distance as the same voice spoke. “Even though they deserve it after what they did to Jet and Droy last week.”

  
The first figure spoke out, clearly annoyed. “Those two idiots got what they had comin’ to em. They should have known better not to take on such a large group like that. And I find it annoying how we had to come save their asses.”

  
Levy tried to peak through the greenery but the flames and smoke were too much for her to see anything more. _‘I should just get out of here… those guys are trained for this kind of thing, I’m not. I don’t even have magic so I’m basically defenseless! I need to leave.’_

  
As Levy stood, she turned her body to walk away, only to stop when she could hear the sounds of the men behind her. Their screams of pain were almost deafening to the petite girls ears. She turned her head to see what had happened. The flames had dispersed some, clearing a small view for Levy to watch in horror. The first centaur that had appeared was tall and dark. He had a mane full of dark hair that seemed to go off in every direction as it formed down the back of his head. Levy could see his crimson eyes gleaming as he fought and killed the soldiers around him with his spear. Blood was flying in every direction as the dark centaur wielded his weapon. Thrusting it into the men’s sides, across their chests, immobilizing others to make their suffering last a bit longer so they could watch their fellow soldiers die before their eyes.

  
Levy looked to the creatures’ face that held the spear. He was smiling like a mad man, like he was getting some kind of enjoyment out of all of this. His crackling laugh as he swung his spear around the men made Levy sick to her stomach. She was frozen in fear as she watched this creature destroy the hunting party. The small girl watched as the red blood of the men flew all around the black centaur. The fight was not long lasting before only one man was left. It was the soldier who had come into the library the night before. He shook in fear as he scooted across the hard ground, his leg badly wounded and bloody, leaving him incapable of escaping. As the black centaur looked his way, a grin came over his monstrous face. Both of their eyes were wide. One was full of fear and horror, as the other looked crazed and lustful for blood.

  
“Please… please let me go! I don’t want to die!” The man on the ground pleaded as he held out a shaky hand.

  
The centaur took a step forward with a large, black hoof, stepping one hoof at a time towards the fallen man. Blood was dripping from his face and spear head. Levy’s heart was beating fast and hard in her chest as she watched. _‘I… I need to stop him... but what can I do?! I’m just a girl with a bag and books! Wait…_’ Levy’s eyes widened as she looked down at her red bag. ‘_I have books…_’ The blue-haired girl reached into her bag quickly and pulled out the green book she had read the night before. Her eyebrows crossed as she looked back at the centaur and soldier. He was inching closer to the frightened man, his spear now pointed out towards him.

  
Levy looked around quickly for any opening in the flames; finding only one. The girl moved swiftly to the small opening behind the black centaur, praying he would not notice her. Levy held the green book tightly in her hand as it shook. She stepped closer to get a better shot from behind the centaur.

  
“Hey! Y-you there!” Levy managed to shout out from behind. The centaur stopped in his tracks, turning half of his body to the commotion behind him. The girl pulled her arm back with the book in hand, thrusting it forward as hard as she could towards the large dark creature. The book made direct contact with the centaurs’ face, causing him to yell out and growl in anger. As the centaur began to rub his face with his free hand, Levy turned and ran, heading out of the circle of flames and back into the woods. Crimson eyes glared in her direction as a grin came over the man’s face.

  
“Gihi… looks like I’ve got something else to catch…. Oi! Flame brain! Where the hell did ya run off too?” Growled the centaur as he looked back around, ignoring the still cowering man before him. The second centaur walked back out from the brush nearby, a piece of meat in his hand.

  
“Yeah, what is it Gajeel?” He said in between bites.

  
Gajeel growled and stomped a hoofed foot. “Where the hell did you go?! I had to take care of all of these idiots by myself.”

  
The red centaur looked around at the aftermath of the black centaurs’ work. “Yeah I can see that… I told you not to kill em all this time.”

  
“Well maybe if you would stick around for these things, and not concern yourself with your stomach so much, I wouldn’t have to deal with them all my way. Besides I left one alive…”

  
The second centaur looked down at the man who was covering up his face in fear. “Oh yeah. Didn’t even notice him there.”

Gajeel growled as he turned his whole body around. “Just keep an eye on him. I’ll be back.”

“Where are you running off to now?!” The pink-haired centaur asked quickly.

  
Gajeel moved a leg outward, bending the other to reach down and pick up the green book that hit him in the face with his free hand. He looked over his shoulder as he held up his spear. “I’ve got more hunting to do.”

* * *

Levy panted heavily as she ran, pushing the small tree branches out of her way as she slipped past the forest trees. Her head turned to see how much distance she had covered as she ran. She was surprised to see that the centaur had not followed her at all. The blue haired girl stopped running and placed a hand over a tree, leaning on it for support. She tried to catch her breath as she rested her back against the hard bark. “He probably just ignored me and went on to kill that man… and in the process I lost a very important book! Man, I feel like an idiot.”

  
“I can make you feel something else if you want.”

  
Levy jumped away from the tree, turning around to see the black centaur grinning at her from behind the tree. His large, muscular arm was leaning against it as he watched her. She took a step back and pointed a finger out towards the beast. “D-don’t come a-any closer or I’ll---“

  
“Or you’ll what?” Gajeel said as he lowered his arm back down to his side, taking a step closer to Levy. He reached under his other arm that held onto the spear he had just used earlier to reveal the green book she had thrown at him. “You’ll throw another book at me? Please… don’t make me laugh.” He said as he threw the book down to her feet. Levy looked at the centaur approaching her now, getting a better look at him. His black hair was slicked back, revealing his forehead with the rest spiking outward as it traveled down the back of his head. She found it odd how he had no eyebrows to speak of, instead they were replaced by three metal studs on each side. She looked over his eyes that were crimson orbs with black slits, almost demon-like as they peered down his nose that sported two round studs. He had two studs on his chin below his mouth and quite a few traveling up his ears.

  
Her hazel eyes looked down to the rest of his body as he walked. His human half was tanned slightly and looked quite muscular as each muscle tensed with his clenched and angry fists as he walked. Both arms were dawning four studs each with his right arm covered in large scars. He was wearing a torn up and shabby looking, black tunic that went all the way down his chest and stomach, stopping just where his centaur body began. As her eyes traveled lower to his centaur half, she could tell he was a tough opponent. He looked larger from the centaurs she had seen depicted in books with thicker legs, a larger centaur body and large hooves with long hairs coming off the back of each hoof. His centaur coat was black like his hair with a decent length of tail swinging behind his hind legs.

  
Levy’s eyes shot back up as she realized he was standing before her now, towering over her with his frame. Gajeel stared down at the frightened girl. She was shaking in fear, with large doe-like eyes staring back up at him. He could tell she wanted to run but her legs wouldn’t listen. He grinned as he leaned over, getting right into her face with his blood stained one.

  
“Are you scared of me little girl?” He asked in a teasing tone.

  
Levy swallowed the lump in her throat. “Y-yes…”

  
Gajeel smirked as he stared into hazel eyes. “As well you should be. You’re a smart one. Unlike your friends back there… but then again, you did throw a book at my face… that, was not so smart. So, the question is… what should I do with you now?”

  
Hazel eyes watched him bring the bloodied spear up close to her face, lightly placing it over her pale cheek.

  
“Perhaps I should just kill you and get it over with…or maybe…” Gajeel’s red eyes slowly moved down, overlooking Levy’s body. The centaur moved his spear down from the girls’ cheek, tracing it over her skin lightly until he reached the middle of the fabric holding her breasts in place. Gajeel’s eyes went back up to stare into frightened hazel as he began to add a bit of pressure to the fabric. “I should have my way with you.”

  
Levy watched as Gajeel licked his lips hungrily. She mentally screamed at her body, wanting to run as far away as she could, but her body refused to move. She was immobilized out of fear and she knew this wasn’t going to end well for her.

  
_‘What have I done?! What is he thinking about doing to me?! This is all my fault… should have just ran when I had the chance!_’ Levy’s words were soft as they escaped her mouth. “Please… let me go… had nothing to do with those soldiers--”

  
“You know, I find it hard to believe you didn’t have anything to do with them.” Gajeel said as he moved the spear slightly, cutting a little bit of the yellow fabric. “When you clearly were trying to save that last soldier.”

  
Levy’s hands came up and pushed against Gajeel’s chest, trying with all her might to push him away. Gajeel laughed to himself as he took her small wrists with his free hand, forcing her body back to a nearby tree. He lifted her up with his brute strength and pinned her hands above her head. His face came in close to hers once again, crimson eyes thirsting for something. His grin showed off sharpened teeth as he looked at her fearful state. “Now then…” The black centaur began to say as he brought the head of his spear to Levy’s cheek once more. “Where were we?”

* * *

  
AN: I hope you all enjoyed this first chapter of Centaur Paradise. This is still an ongoing story on Fanfiction but I would like to post it up here as well. Making edits to each chapter as I go, so please excuse any mistakes I may have missed!


	2. To Fairy Tail

“Please, I’m begging you… don’t do this. If you kill me, people will come searching for me!” Levy pleaded to the dark centaur. Gajeel smirked to himself, and after a minute began to laugh loudly. He released his grip on her wrists, causing her to fall back down to the ground. The centaur took his spear back as he held his arms out to his sides.

  
“You think I’m afraid of humans?! Besides, I like seeing the fear in your eyes.” Gajeel watched as Levy rubbed her wrists as she held them close to her chest. Her gaze stuck on his blood-stained face. Both centaur and human looked up suddenly as the second centaur came into view, rubbing his stomach lightly as he smiled. “Hey! I told you to wait by that soldier back there! Why are you over here?!”

  
The red centaur rubbed the back of his pink hair as he spoke. “I got bored and told him to get out of here. Not to mention we need to get back. Erza told us to just come out here and patrol for a few hours. And I’m getting hungry again.”

  
Gajeel growled and clenched his fist towards the second centaur as he yelled. “You never listen to what I have to say and yet you’d listen to that red headed mare?!”

  
The centaur beside Gajeel looked back at the large creature, fear clear as day over his face. “Uh, yeah, caz it’s Erza! You remember what happened last time we didn’t listen to her?!”

  
Levy saw Gajeel step back slightly, seeing that the memory was clearly running through the centaurs’ head. Gajeel growled in frustration. The red centaur beside him looked over to Levy, a blank expression over his face as he looked down at the scared girl.

  
“Who’s this?” He asked. Gajeel looked back at Levy as he stuck his spear into the ground.

  
“Just someone else from the castle. She threw a book at my face so I went after her.” The dark-haired centaur explained.

The red coated creature burst out in laughter as he pointed at Gajeel. “You mean to tell me a small human like her got the best of the great and powerful Black Steel himself?! Oh man, you’ve got to be kidding me!!”

“Shut up!” Gajeel’s crimson eyes turned back onto Levy who jumped slightly, holding her arms closer to her chest. “I still need to figure out what I’m gonna do with her.”

  
The centaur beside him pawed at the ground with his hoof out of boredom as he moved his hands behind his head. “Why don’t we just take her back with us?” Levy took a chance and looked over to the second centaur. He dawned spiky pink hair and dark eyes. He was a bit leaner than the one called Gajeel, but from what Levy could tell, he was still muscular. His wore a scarf around his neck along with a sleeveless black waistcoat with golden trim. The second centaurs’ coat was completely red with black hooves. His centaur frame also looked leaner than Gajeel’s’ large form as Levy looked over the two centaurs’ standing before her. Levy could hear Gajeel let out a low growl as he looked back at her.

  
“I ain’t putting no stinky human on my back.” Gajeel said in disgust as he looked down at Levy, crossing his arms over his chest. Something in Levy began to bubble as she heard the words flow out of the centaurs’ mouth. Her eyes grew angry as she stood up straight, standing on the tip of her toes to get closer to Gajeel.

  
“I’m not a stinky human! I have a name! And if anyone here is stinky, it’s the two of you! I mean do you guys even bathe where you live? It’s no wonder humans and centaurs don’t get along anymore.”

  
Gajeel gritted his teeth as he reached out for the girl, grabbing her arm forcefully, causing fear to flood back into her eyes. “You think that’s why we don’t come around you filthy, untrustworthy humans anymore?” Gajeel looked up and down at Levy once more, shoving her back to the tree. “You know nothing, Shrimp. Go home.”

  
Levy stared at Gajeel, a surprised look over her face. “Wait… you know why we don’t live together anymore?”

  
Gajeel raised a studded brow as the red centaur looked at Levy now in surprise. “You mean to tell me you don’t know the legend? But you’re a human. Don’t they have school for your kind anymore? Man, human society really has gone downhill ever since we left em.”

  
Gajeel grabbed his spear and turned his whole body around without another word. The second centaur looked to Gajeel then back to Levy. She looked up into his black eyes, confused and still slightly scared. “So, what are you going to do?” The pink-haired centaur asked with a raised brow.

  
Levy looked away from him. “I… I don’t know. I need, no, I want to know more about centaurs.”

  
The centaur in front of her smiled brightly as he held out a hand to her. “So then come with us!”  
Levy looked at his hand, hesitant to take it with her own. The red centaur continued to smile as he spoke. “You wanna know more about us, right?”

  
“Yes.” Levy replied.

  
“So then let’s go!” Without her consent, the red coated creature quickly grabbed Levy’s arm, pulling her up onto his back without much trouble. Levy nearly fell off the other side of the centaur as he lifted her up with his arm. Before she could say anything, the centaur was off, trailing behind Gajeel at a slow trot. Levy struggled to stay on the centaurs back as he trotted through the forest. She quickly found her arms wrapped around the centaurs’ human half of his body as she bounced lightly on his back. The centaur glanced back at Levy as he trotted, smirking at her. “Haven’t you ever ridden a horse before?”

  
“Believe it or not, no I haven’t! Just because I live in the castle doesn’t mean I get to ride horses in my spare time!”

  
Gajeel scoffed as he rolled his eyes. “Big surprise. A castle brat that doesn’t know how to ride a horse. Probably too busy learning how to dance and learning to be a proper young lady.”

  
Levy glared at the black centaur now just a few steps before her and the second centaur. “How would you know what I learn back there?!”

  
Gajeel turned his body towards the second centaur who had caught up to him, stomping his large hoof into the ground. “Would you prefer me to say that you rich, lazy asses kill us and our friends for fun?! Or how you enslaved us over the years after the Great War?! Betraying our trust and using us to get further ahead in this world. What else am I to expect from a human like you?”

  
The red centaur put his hands up towards Gajeel. “Hey calm down Gajeel. We don’t even know if she was part of that or not.”

  
Levy looked at the centaur carrying her in confusion. “What are you guys talking about? I’ve never heard of anyone in the castle enslaving any of you.”

  
Gajeel crossed his arms over his chest as he scoffed again, looking away from the two of them. “Just like a brat to lie like that to save her own skin.”

  
Levy could feel anger bubbling up inside of her as the one called Gajeel spoke. “At least I’m not some arrogant killing machine! You say that we’re the ones killing you and your friends off, why don’t you take a good look in the mirror!”

  
Gajeel growled as he moved beside the red centaur, leaning in close to Levy. “Watch your mouth little girl. I’m not against killing smart mouthed brats.” Levy felt her fear wash over her body once more as the centaur stared hard into her with his red eyes. Gajeel moved away and started walking through the forest once more, grumbling to himself. Levy let out a breath she held in as Gajeel leaned in close to her, clenching her vest tightly. The red centaur turned his head as he started walking, trailing behind the larger centaur.

  
“Don’t take it too much to heart… he has his reasons why he hates humans so much.” The pink-haired centaur said with a half-smile.

  
Levy crossed her arms over her chest as she sent darts towards the back of Gajeel’s head. “Yeah? Like what?”

  
The red centaur looked back to the front, silence taken over him for a moment before he spoke. “Humans… took away our closest friends. Ones who we have grown up with since we were young. They were killed in front of us. As for the others… we’re still not sure what really happened to them. Gajeel thinks they were taken in to be slaves or sold off as slaves to other towns too far from our reach.”

  
Levy’s eyes grew wide at the words she just heard. Levy’s head went downward as her eyes softened. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.”

  
The centaur looked back with a soft smile on his face. “It’s ok… it happened a long time ago.” Gajeel stopped suddenly in front of the other two, his head looking around intently. The second centaur behind him stopped as well. “Gajeel… is it _them_?”

  
Gajeel growled to himself as he reached down on his dark tunic, tearing off a long piece of it and walking back over to Levy. The girl moved away from Gajeel as he raised his hands towards her face.

  
“What do you think you’re doing?” She asked as she knocked away his hands inching toward her face.

  
“Just shut up and hold still. I’m blindfolding you.” Gajeel said as he quickly brought his hands back up and wrapped the dirty, blood stained fabric around Levy’s eyes, making her shudder at the thought of the soldiers’ blood stained on the fabric covering her eyes now. The large centaur looked to the second in seriousness. “We need to leave here now. I can hear the dogs. Sounds like _Bolts_ is back.”

  
Levy could hear the red centaur groan. “Oh man… that guy is so annoying. And his stupid dogs are meaner than hell. If Happy were here, he’d help me show them a thing or two!”

  
Gajeel grabbed Levy’s arm lightly as he leaned in close to whisper in her ear. “You may want to hold on tight, Shrimp. And I mean tight.”

  
“Wait, what do you mean by that?!” Levy asked as she turned her head back and forth. The next thing she knew was the centaur carrying her had gone from a standstill to a full-on gallop through the forest. She could hear their hoof beats hitting the ground with such ferocity as they ran. All she could do was keep her head close to the pink haired centaur with her arms wrapped around his torso tightly. _‘What are they running from? And who is this bolts guy? More importantly… where are they taking me?!’_

  
“We stayed out here too long Gajeel! I warned you before we left, we shouldn’t have gotten mixed up with those guys.” Levy heard the centaur carrying her shout out in front of him. She could hear Gajeel in front shouting back as they ran.

  
“Will you shut up? We’ve got more important things to worry about right now. And I’m not the one who wasted my time bringing back a girl from the castle.”

  
The pink-haired centaur started to argue. “Yeah but it was you who went after her. Had you just let her go, we wouldn’t have to deal with this problem.”

  
“Says the one carrying the stinkin’ human on his back! Why did you agree to bring her back with us anyway? You know what’s gonna happen right?”

  
“She wanted to learn more about us. And I’m sure everyone else is going to be excited to have her. She’s different than the others.” Levy listened to the creature as he spoke up in her defense.

  
Gajeel growled under his breath. “They’re all the same. Every filthy human is the same.”

  
The blue-haired girl wondered what the two were talking about as they sprinted through the forest, she couldn’t see a thing through the fabric around her eyes but she could feel the atmosphere around her starting to change. “What’s going on?” Levy asked with concern.

  
Before the red centaur had time to respond to her, he had stopped suddenly and rose straight up into the air, causing Levy to fall off his back onto the ground with a thud. Levy could hear a loud clash just in front of them as she fell, along with the two centaurs groaning from the sudden bright light before them. The blue-haired girl grabbed the blindfold and quickly pulled it down. Her eyes widened as she saw a man standing before the two centaurs. He was the general from the castle, someone who she had known her whole life and one she was not too happy to see.

  
“I see you centaurs have something of ours. Hand her over and no one will have to get hurt.” The tall, blond-haired man said coolly.

  
Levy watched as the red centaur cracked his knuckles, flames appearing over them. “She’s not going back with ya, you jerk.”

  
The black centaur stepped in front of the second and held his spear outward. “Take the girl to Erza. I’ll deal with this guy.”

  
“You sure you can handle him?”

  
Gajeel raised his voice as he charged towards the man standing across from them. “Get her out of here you idiot!”

  
The red centaur growled as he turned around to pick up Levy. As he pulled her up, her red bag strap got caught on a nearby tree branch, ripping it off her shoulders. Levy looked down as she was thrown onto the centaurs’ back once more.

  
“My bag!” She yelled as she extended her hand out towards the bag on the ground. The centaur started galloping away from Gajeel and the general, racing through the trees.

  
“We don’t have time to stick around here! We’ll get caught up in their fight if we stay around for much longer!”

  
Levy looked over her shoulder as she held on tight to the centaur as he ran. “Is he going to be ok by himself? Laxus has lightning magic.”

  
“Trust me, if anyone can take on Laxus by themselves, Gajeel is one of the best.” As the centaur ran, all Levy could make out was the sounds of lightning clashing and the yells of pain from both men. The blue haired girl shut her eyes tight, trying to drone out the sounds of pain and lightning coming from the two fighting in the distance.

  
‘_Why am I so concerned if Gajeel lives or not? He’s an arrogant jerk who wanted to have his way with me and then kill me! He clearly made his opinion about humans a long time ago, and he hates me for no reason, but still… I don’t want him to die because of me. I don’t want that guilt.’_

* * *

“Hey! You awake?”

  
Levy opened her eyes slowly, seeing the pink haired centaur close up in her face as he looked her over. She looked around at her surroundings as her vision came into better focus. “Where… where are we?”

  
The red centaur grinned as he moved back a bit, letting the small girl get some air into her lungs. “Well right now we’re in my tent back in Fairy Tail.”

  
“Fairy Tail?” The small girl asked, unsure if she had heard him correctly.

  
“Yeah, that’s what Mavis called this part of the forest when she was alive. She always had an infatuation with fairies for some reason.” The centaur said as he rubbed his chin. Levy continued to glance around the large tent as the centaur continued to talk to her. It was quite a large tent filled with all sorts of things. It had looked like the centaur collected different items over the years and left them scattered all over the place. Nothing was organized at all in this place as it looked like a storm had passed right through and no one bothered to clean up afterwards.

  
Levy could see dirty plates and half eaten bits of food all over the center table that had been raised high enough for the centaur to eat off of. Shirts were draped and scattered across the room, mostly the same color and style of vest he wore at the moment. His furniture consisted of oversized pillows piled up in a circle along with a small hammock hanging in between the wall and a tree that had been growing inside the large tent. Large brown chests were scattered around the area as well, overflowing with hidden items the centaur threw into them. The blue-haired girl looked to the other side of the tent and saw painted pictures hanging up on the wall. Many were of the red centaur and another creature she had never seen before.

  
It was a smaller creature in stature, one that had half a body of a young boy and his other half that looked like a goat. He had a rectangular shaped head with big black eyes and thin eyebrows. He had a blush over his cheeks as he smiled brightly along with the centaur in the picture beside him. He had blue goat ears, legs and tail with a white tip at the very end of it. Two little light blue horns dawned over his head as well. Levy stood slowly, wavering slightly as she held her head. “What happened?”

  
The pink haired centaur rubbed his head as he spoke. “Well, while we were escaping, some of that jerks’ dogs caught up to us and well… I kinda let you fall backwards and you hit your head on a rock. So, sorry about that.”

  
Levy felt around her head and winced slightly as she found the bump the centaur had been referring to. Her gaze looked down over the centaurs’ body as he stood in front of her and his extra-large bed. He had white bandage wraps around his back legs, blood staining them slightly. Levy’s eyes shot back up the centaur. “Your legs! Are you alright?”

  
The centaur looked at her blankly, then stared back at his own legs, lifting one up to look at it for a moment as he balanced his weight on the other three. “Yeah I’ll be fine. Just a few scratches from those damn dogs.”

  
Levy’s eyes widened as she realized someone else was missing from this picture. “Has Gajeel come back yet?”

  
The red centaur looked away as his arms fell to his sides. “No. Not yet.”

  
“Oh, I see.” Levy said sadly as she looked down worriedly. The centaur leaned over and placed his hand over her shoulder.

“He’ll be back so don’t worry.”

_ ‘How can I not worry?! This is all my fault… I should have never gone out of the castle. But had I stayed there… that soldier would have probably been murdered. But now I may have gotten Gajeel killed…’ _Levy thought to herself.

“Natsu! Thank goodness you’re back! I was so worried!”

  
Both the girl and centaur turned their attention to the voice entering the tent behind them. It was another centaur, a young female centaur by the looks of it. She had shoulder length blonde hair with a single, red ponytail tied on the right side of her head. Levy noticed the large breasts the centaur girl had along with a somewhat curvy centaur body. It wasn’t muscular like Gajeel or Natsu, and looked more feminine to Levy. She wore an orange tank top with white trim around it, with a white stripe running down the middle, splitting the tank top at the bottom. Her centaur body was as golden as the sun with a blonde tail flowing behind her. Her hooves were a lighter shade that seemed to almost match the color of her golden coat. Her big brown eyes were bright and full of relief as she saw the centaur, she called Natsu.

  
The female centaur made her way to Natsu and wrapped her arms around his neck. “I’m so glad you got back here safely. Wendy told me you ran into some trouble, are you ok?”

  
Natsu grinned as he hugged the golden centaur back. “Yeah it was nothin’. Just a few scratches. But I got a few good kicks in myself. It’ll be a long time before those dogs show their ugly faces around centaurs again.” As the two finished their embrace, the new centaur looked down at Levy, pointing a finger at her as she looked at Natsu.

  
“Who’s this?” She asked, curiosity growing in her brown eyes.

  
Natsu looked at Levy and tilted his head as his arms came over his chest. “You know what… I never caught her name. I think it’s Shrimp. That’s what Gajeel called her.”

  
Levy looked up at the two centaurs, annoyed by the name “Shrimp.” The blonde centaur looked at Natsu as she put her hands on her sides. “You mean to tell me you didn’t ask for her name? You just picked up a random human and brought her here?!”

  
Natsu turned to the golden centaur and made a fist with one hand as he pointed at Levy with the other. “Hey, it wasn’t my fault this girl is here right now! I mean it kinda is, but Gajeel was the one who found her! He told me to bring her back here. Plus, she wanted to learn more about us so I figured, why not?” The centaur standing beside Natsu let out a sigh as she placed a hand to her head.

  
“Sometimes I wonder about you Natsu.” The female centaur turned to face Levy and leaned over slightly, extending her hand with a smile on her face. “Hi, I’m Lucy. I see you’ve already met the idiot beside me, Natsu.”

  
“Hey!” Natsu said, beginning to protest.

  
Levy stuck her hand out and took Lucy’s into her own. “Levy.”

  
Lucy stood back up with her back straight as she put her hands on her sides again. “So, you wanted to learn more about us, huh? Don’t you humans have a school that teaches you all about us? Maybe some books in your libraries?” Lucy asked kindly.

  
Natsu raised his shoulders as he held out his hands in front of him. “That’s what I asked!”

  
Lucy glared at Natsu as she snapped at him. “Will you be quiet? I’m talking to Levy!”

  
Levy looked up at the two centaurs as she spoke clearly. “We do have some teachings and a few books describing centaurs and certain tales, but they seem to depict you all differently than what I’ve seen so far. I’ve only seen three of you so far, but from what I can tell, you two are nothing like what my books said you’d be like. Gajeel might be a close depiction of what I read.”

  
Lucy looked at Natsu and then back at Levy. “How were we described?”

  
“Beasts who are considered to be brutal, violent creatures. Highly known for their drunkenness and lawless behavior.” Levy looked away from the two who seemed deeply confused by what she had just said. “There’s more to it, but I wanted to know what you guys were truly like. I also tried to find out what happened at the Great War between humans and centaurs and most of it is how Mavis, the first centaur to make contact with humans, came into the picture and then our books just end right before the war started up.” Levy rubbed her arm lightly. “I just wanted to know more about centaurs. It’s my fault Natsu got hurt and Gajeel--”

  
Lucy smiled as she spoke to Levy. “Don’t worry about these guys. They are tough as nails and can handle most situations.” Lucy looked back to Natsu who was munching on something that was left out on the table nearby. Lucy shook her head in disgust. “Did you tell Erza there was a human here?”

  
Natsu nearly choked on his food at the mention of Erza. The pink haired centaur shook his head as his mouth was full with food. Lucy let out a sigh as she shook her head once more. “Go get Erza, I’m going to take Levy to Wendy so she can check her over for any other wounds.”

  
As Natsu headed for the front of his tent, he mumbled under his breath. “Why do I have to be the one to go get Erza?”

  
Lucy’s head snapped back towards Natsu as he exited the tent. “You were the one who brought her here!! Ugh, I swear he can be such a pain sometimes. Come on, I’ll take you to Wendy so she can check you over.” Levy nodded as she followed Lucy outside of Natsu’s’ tent.

  
Levy covered her eyes slightly as the sunlight shining in through the open space hit her face. Once they had a chance to adjust, she looked around the large area she had been taken to. Acres upon acres of grassy land with large trees growing all around, was surrounded by forest, hiding this place quite well. There were tents scattered all around the area with centaurs entering and exiting them. A small lake could be seen in the distance along with a wooden building next to it. Levy walked closely to Lucy as they walked along the dirt path, other centaurs passing them, glancing down at Levy with wide eyes.  
Levy could see that most of the centaurs here were older with just a few younger, child looking centaurs, pointing in her direction as they looked up at their parents excitedly. ‘_They’ve probably never seen a human before… am I the first one to ever come here?’_

  
Levy turned her attention back to Lucy who had entered a tent, motioning her to join her inside. As they stepped inside, Levy saw the new tent she ventured into was more organized and cleaner compared to Natsus’. It had bookshelves full with books, along with a small desk on the one side. There were multiple large beds set up in the front, most likely for any centaur that may be injured to lay on. Levy’s eyes moved towards the back and saw a blue curtain hiding another part of the tent.  
“Hey Wendy! You in here?” Lucy called out as she placed a hand to the side of her mouth. A second later, a young voice responded from behind the curtain.

  
“I’ll be right out Lucy!”

  
Lucy looked at Levy and smiled, motioning towards one of the beds next to her. “You can sit up here.”  
Levy looked at the bed before her and wondered if she was even able to get into it herself. The blue haired girl placed her hands on either side of her body and pushed herself up with her feet onto the bed. As she turned her body around and adjusted where she sat, a small centaur came into view from the back. She was definitely younger than Lucy with her fair skin and petite size. Her hair was long and a dark blue color with two bangs that framed her tiny face. She wore a white loose-fitting top with a red bow tied around her neck. Her arms were mostly covered by the same material with red trim to match her bow, as her shoulders remained exposed. The girls’ centaur coat was a lighter shade of blue than her hair, and her tail seemed shorter than everyone else’s.

  
The young centaur put her hands together excitedly as she saw Levy sitting on the bed. “Are you the human I’ve been heard about?! Oh my gosh! It’s such an honor to meet you finally!” Wendy said happily as she made her way to Levy, shaking her hand almost immediately.

  
Levy looked up to Lucy who smiled back at her. “Wendy has always had an interest with humans and the way they live. She’s never met one before so I guess this means a lot to her.”

  
Wendy stepped back and smiled brightly. “It does! I’ve always wanted to come see a human in person but we aren’t really allowed to leave without permission."

  
“So, are you guys being held here against your will?” Levy asked as Wendy looked her over. The young centaur placed her hands over Levy’s head wound and began to use healing magic on her.

  
“No, not at all. It’s just that I’m the only healer here so I can’t really leave. If they lose me, who else is going to be here to heal the centaurs who get hurt?” Wendy said with a smile. Lucy leaned in to Levy as she placed her hands behind her human half.

  
“Not to mention, it’s super peaceful here. We’re hidden by the trees that surround this area of the forest and Mavis placed a cloaking spell over Fairy Tail before she died. That way if humans tried to find this place, it would just look like an animal’s den that no man would venture into.”

  
“But this place is so huge… how is the spell able to cover this whole land?” Levy asked.

  
“Well, Mavis was quite powerful you know. She was the one who taught some of us the magic that we use in our daily lives.”

Levy’s face lit up as she heard Lucy speak of Mavis. “You mean to tell me you knew Mavis?! But that would make you…”

“Really old? Yeah, I know. We centaurs age differently from humans. Kind of a weird concept to grasp, I know.” The blonde-haired centaur responded. Levy began to wonder how the aging of a centaur worked when she heard a commotion coming from outside. Lucy looked to the front of the tent, worry over her face. “Stay here for a minute. I’ll go check it out.”

  
Wendy brought her hands back down to her own body as she watched Lucy make her way back outside of the tent. Levy rubbed her head where the bump seemed to go down some.

  
“Is everything ok out there?” She asked.

  
Wendy turned her head to face Levy, a weary smile forming across her lips. “I’m not sure. I’ll go check it out just to make sure.”

  
Levy’s hazel eyes watched the small centaur leave her to herself in the large tent. Minutes later she could hear other centaurs coming closer to the tent she was in. Part of her wanted to jump off the bed and hide, not knowing how other centaurs would react to her presence. Just as she was about to jump down, the blue-haired girl looked up to the tent opening, her eyes widening at the sight.

  
Lucy along with three other centaurs were helping Gajeel into the room, setting him down on the nearby circle of pillows on the ground. His body was covered in burns as other parts of his centaur body was badly injured and bleeding uncontrollably. Levy could tell Laxus had used his magic against the large centaur, and allowed his dogs to have their way with the centaur as well.

  
Guilt came over the small human as she thought to herself, her hazel eyes glued to the injured creature. ‘_He’s such a monster. He probably let his dogs to distract Gajeel while he used his magic on him._’

  
Levys’ thoughts were interrupted by a centaur who had caught sight of the girl sitting on the bed. “Does anyone else see the human sitting on the bed over there? Or am I going crazy?”


	3. Blue Pegasus

Hazel eyes opened wide as the centaur who just spoke pointed a finger towards her with one hand still on his injured friend. ‘_What do I do now? I don’t think everyone here is going to be pleased to see me… should I run? No. If I run, they would have no trouble catching me. I have two legs and they have four! This is bad. I need to get out of here—‘_

  
Levy’s thoughts were interrupted by the large black centaur. His voice broke through her fearful thoughts as he growled angrily at the centaur whose eyes fell upon the human. “Oi! Will you pay attention to what you’re doin’ over here?! I’m in enough pain as it is, I don’t need ya to go and drop me now just caz you see a stupid human in the room!”

  
Levy’s gaze turned to Gajeel in a slight glare. _‘Even in so much pain, he still has the nerve to talk down about me. He so concerned about himself… why did I even worry about him?’_

  
The centaur turned to face Gajeel as he helped lower him down to the pillows beneath their feet. As soon as the large centaur was put down, the curious centaur quickly made his way to Levy at the bed, extending a hand with a smile on his face. “How you doing? I’m Max. I’ve often wondered when we would see a human here again.”

  
Levy stared into Max’s dark eyes, confused and hesitant to shake his hand. He stood there patiently waiting for her hand to come into his. Max chuckled after a minute and moved his hand closer to her. “I’m not going to hurt you, everyone here at Fairy Tail won’t even try to do anything mean to you. Well, maybe Gajeel because he’s always in such a bad mood.”

Gajeel lifted his head up over Wendy who began to use her healing magic over his legs with bite marks and gashes left by the dogs. “HEY! I HEARD THAT!!”

Levy looked down at the open hand and slowly took his hand into her own. His grip was firm and warm. Her hazel eyes went back up to meet his. “Levy.”

  
Max smiled as he shook her hand. “Well it’s a pleasure to meet you Levy. Are you going to be staying with us long?”

  
“I… I’m not sure…” She responded quietly.

  
Lucy quickly made her way out of the tent, mentioning that she had to find Natsu and Erza while the other two centaurs made their way to Levy’s bedside as well, scanning her over as she talked to Max. The blue haired girl made sure to keep her eyes on them as they looked her small frame over. As far as she could see, they didn’t have any weapons on them, but that didn’t mean anything. Anyone of them could easily take her down with their bare hands. Her thoughts of danger once again were interrupted by two hands coming up from behind her, wrapping around underneath her arms and gripping her small chest. Levy looked down with red cheeks, gasping loudly.

  
“Well she doesn’t have much in this department… is she still a growing human?” The female centaur said from behind Levy.

  
The third centaur standing off to the side of Max smacked the females’ hands away from Levy’s breasts, leaving the young girl to quickly cover herself up in embarrassment. “Cana, you can’t just go around grabbing girls’ like that. Specially a human child.” The centaur said coolly.

  
Levy turned her head to face the centaur that just spoke. He had spiky dark blue hair with dark blue eyes. He was shirtless with toned muscles showing on every inch of his human torso. He had a scar just above his left eye that was being covered slightly by his hair and as her eyes quickly scanned over the rest of the centaur, she noticed he had a cross-shaped scar on his lower abdomen as well. Hazel eyes traveled back up to his face as her cheeks continued to burn out of embarrassment. “I’m not a child! I’m in my twenties, I’ll have you know!”

  
The centaur named Cana came around to the front, leaning in close to Levy’s face as she poked a finger at the part of her chest that wasn’t covered by her arms. “Wow girly, someone was unkind to you. Short and small breasts.” The dark brown-haired centaur grinned as she looked into frustrated hazel eyes. Before Levy could say another word, Gajeel chimed in as Wendy left his side to get more bandages for his wounds.

  
“Will you three leave her alone already?! You shouldn’t get attached to something that ain’t gonna stay here long.”

  
Levy looked past the three centaurs who turned to look at Gajeel laying down on the pillows. She sent a glare his way, which was met with a steady stare from crimson eye. _‘Something? Seriously?!’_

  
Gajeel knew exactly what she was thinking and merely let out a scoff as he turned his head away from her. The three centaurs looked at each other, shrugging their shoulders and one by one, leaving the large tent. Cana looked back at Levy, giving her a smile and a wink before she exited the tent. “See ya around girly!”

  
The blue-haired girl looked down after the three left, leaving her alone with Gajeel in the same room. They weren’t entirely alone; Wendy was in the back of the tent behind the curtain that separated this room with what Levy assumed was the centaurs sleeping quarters. But still… here they were. Levy kept her gaze down at the ground as her head began to pound slightly. She raised a hand to her head, tracing her fingertips over the bump that remained even after Wendy had used her magic.

  
“Does it still hurt, Shrimp?”

  
Hazel eyes widened as she looked over at Gajeel who was holding onto his arm that was burned worse than anywhere else on his body.

  
“What?” She said confusingly.

  
Gajeel repeated himself, seeming annoyed that he had to do so. “Does it still hurt?”

  
Levy’s eyes narrowed just before she looked away from him. “Why do you care? I’m just some “thing” to you.”

  
“I don’t, and you’re right. You are just something. You’re a human that can’t be trusted. You’re all the same.” The sound of his voice was full of disgust.

  
Levy’s rage was building up from every word that left his mouth. Her head snapped back towards him as she carefully got down from the bed, storming over to his large frame. She leaned in close as she poked him in the chest as hard as she could. “YOU don’t know me! I don’t know what humans ever did to make you hate us so much, but you don’t need to be such an asshole to me! I’ve don’t nothing to you since we’ve met!”

  
Gajeel forced himself to lean in closer to her as he spoke angrily. “Oh, and I’m sure that book to my face was you doing nothing to me?!” Levy’s mouth opened slightly, at loss of words as she stepped back. Gajeel scoffed as he leaned back down against the large pillows. “Yeah… that’s what I thought.”

  
“No, that was different!” Levy finally managed to say. “That was me trying to stop you from killing an innocent man!”

  
Gajeel’s studded brow raised as he looked at Levy from the corners of his eyes, his crimson orbs beginning to burn. “An innocent man? Is that what you think of your beloved solider boys?”

  
The short girl threw her arm down at her side, her fist clenched tight. “They aren’t my soldiers to command!”

  
“You’re from the castle, yeah? Doesn’t that mean you get to do whatever you want and control anyone at your fingertips?” Gajeel asked questionably.

  
Levy stomped her foot on the ground as she spoke, her anger causing the bump on her head to pound harder. She could feel herself starting to get slightly dizzy. “That’s what I’m trying to tell you! Yes, I live in the castle, but I don’t have a high status at all! I’m the princess’s tutor. Thus, why I don’t know much about centaurs. I’m technically not allowed in the library unless I’m with the princess and even then, it’s hard to sneak away to look at the other books in there because her stupid guards are constantly at her side. Hell, I don’t even get paid that much! My father sold me to the king years ago so that I could help his daughter with her studies. They let me live in the castle for free, I don’t have to pay for my meals, and I get a small allowance every month.” Her expression softened as she thought back over the years.

  
“Ever since I was young, I’ve been fascinated by centaurs. My father would tell me tales of when his great grandfather was alive and how he lived peacefully with the centaurs, just before the Great War happened. He would tell me about only one centaur from his great grandfathers’ time. This centaur had magic that allowed his arms to turn into iron and take any shape or form he could think of. He would often use his magic to help my father’s great grandfather work on the house he built or put up fences around the farm I used to live at.”

  
Gajeels’ eyes glanced away from Levy as she spoke of this centaur. Levy continued to speak softly. “He told me he was a kind centaur, and always had a friend with him. A satyr, I believe they were called?” The centaurs' fist gripped tightly as she spoke of the satyr. Hazel eyes looked over the injured centaur, narrowing her eyes slightly. “Is something wrong?”

  
Gajeel huffed and grinned slightly. “Yeah, anyone ever tell ya that you talk too much about stupid stuff no one gives a fuck about?”

  
Levy couldn’t help what she did next. Without thinking, she quickly moved closer to Gajeel, stomping her foot down hard on one of his legs, causing him to yell out in pain. His hand immediately going to the bite mark she stepped on as he whipped his head towards her. “WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!”

  
Levy made fists in her own hands as she yelled back. “YOU’RE SUCH A JERK! I CAN’T BELIEVE THAT I ACTUALLY WAS WORRIED ABOUT YOU FOR EVEN A SECOND!” The blue-haired girl turned on her heels and quickly stormed out of the tent, unwilling to further talk with the hurt creature.

  
The black centaur growled as he looked down at his leg, blood flowing over his fingers as the wound began to pulse in pain from her kick. Wendy appeared once more into the room, carrying bandages in her small arms. She approached Gajeel with a frown on her face, her voice soft. “Why didn’t you just tell her the truth? You wouldn’t have gotten kicked if you did.”

  
As the small cobalt blue centaur began to clean his newly opened wound on his leg, Gajeel placed his head into his hand, propping his elbow up on one of the pillows as he stared away from the younger centaur. “She doesn’t need to know it was me all those years ago. Plus, I don’t want her to get attached. I still haven’t forgiven those humans from the castle and what they did to Lily.”

  
Wendy glanced up at his face, knowing he truly did not like humans anymore. She had moved past what had happened many years ago, but never forgot the pain that never seemed to vanish. “You’re not even going to try to get to know her? She seems nice. And she does want to know more about us. I don’t see the harm in that.”

  
Gajeel let out a scoff as he closed his eyes lightly. “There’s nothing to learn. We once lived with humans, there was the war, and now we are fighting for our lives to remain hidden and safe. Which I think is stupid. We should be fighting back against them.”

  
Gajeel winced and snapped his head to look down at his leg that Wendy was bandaging. The leg Levy had stomped on was bleeding through the white fabric as the young centaur wrapped it. The stinging pain shot up into his body. Wendy panicked slightly, knowing she had wrapped it too tight around his leg. “I-I’m sorry! But it needs to be this tight! I didn’t mean to hurt you!”

  
“Why can’t you just use your magic again?” Gajeel grumbled as he turned his head and placed it back onto his open palm.

  
“I had to use a lot of my magic on your burns and your other legs, not to mention Levy had a nasty bump on her head. I don’t even think she should be moving around too much right now. She really needs to get some rest.”

  
Gajeel stared off into the back of the tent in silence, knowing Wendy was kindly scolding him for making Levy leave. “Well when she passes out, I’m sure they’ll bring her right back here to ya.”

* * *

Levy walked on the dirt path, her thoughts running through her head. She ignored the many looks she got from everyone, the pointing fingers, and the whispers floating around the centaurs. _‘I was just trying to explain myself, and what does he do? Tells me that I talk too much! He’s so rude… I mean… I guess I was going on about some personal history. We’ve only just met, and we aren’t really friends or acquaintances but still…. I guess I thought if I told him something that personal, he would look at me differently. I was wrong though. I bet he won’t ever see me as a good person_.’ Levy stopped in her tracks, clenching a fist at her side._ ‘Kicking him probably didn’t help the situation at all… but I was so mad at him! Nothing I can say will get through to him! I had no other choice. What am I thinking? I did have a choice. I just chose the one that would cause him pain because I was angry.’_

  
“Heeey!! Levy!! Wait up!!” A voice shouted from some distance behind the small girl walking alone.  
Levy’s head moved up and around quickly, seeing Lucy trotting over to her as she waved a hand to her. The centaur stopped a few paces before she reached Levy and slowly walked up to her, putting her hands on her hips. “There you are! I was looking for you at Wendy’s and she said you stormed out.”

  
Levy looked down, a sad look over her face. “I got mad and did something stupid. I feel like I should go back and apologize to Gajeel for what I did.”

  
Lucy waved a hand, dismissing what she had just said. “Don’t worry about him, girl. He’s a big boy and he’ll be fine. It’s about time someone kicked his ass.” The blonde centaur giggled as she finished her sentence. Levy didn’t find the humor in what she said and looked at Lucy in slight confusion. “Anyways! I’m here to bring you to Erza. Natsu totally forgot and went straight to the pub. I found him stuffing his face trying to win an eating competition against Elfman. Like he as a chance against him! I mean come on, its Elfman!”

  
Levy stared at Lucy blankly as the blonde continued to talk. ‘_And Gajeel says I talk too much….'_

  
Lucy looked down at Levy’s face and brought a hand to her own lips. “Oops! I’m going off again. Sorry! I have a bad habit of talking too much!” Lucy rubbed the back of her head as she smiled brightly. “Anyway! Let’s go see Erza, then I can introduce you to everyone else here at Fairy Tail.”

  
The centaur turned and waited for the short human to follow her. The blue-haired girl knew she was safe with Lucy and didn’t hesitate to walk alongside the centaur. “Say, Lucy… can I ask you something?”

  
Lucy smiled as she walked. “Sure! What’s on your mind?”

  
“You guys aren’t going to keep me here as a prisoner, are you?” Levy asked with concern in her voice.

  
Chocolate brown eyes opened wide as she looked down at Levy. “I don’t see why we would. What gave you that idea?”

  
Levy shook her head as she smiled slightly. “It’s nothing, just something I read—“ It was at this moment that Levy remembered that she had lost her books and her red bag back in the forest when Natsu grabbed her and took her away from Gajeel and Laxus. She mentally kicked herself as she remembered this. _‘Great, if Laxus finds out what books I had in my bag, I’m sure to be in trouble when I get back to the castle! Maybe it would be a good idea for me to stay here for a while. Sooner or later, I’m going to have to go back. Maybe it was never found? But with the way my luck has been…’_ Levy let out a sigh as she thought to herself.

  
Lucy waved a hand in front of Levy’s face, trying to get her attention. “Hey, everything ok in there?”

  
The blue-haired girl shook her head slightly and looked up a Lucy. “What? Oh, yes. Sorry. Got lost in thought for a second there.”

  
Lucy smiled as she stopped in front of a large wooden building. Levy only saw the one wooden building out by the lake and as her eyes scanned over this one, she was amazed by the craftsmanship put into it. She even marveled at the wooden centaur statues posted just outside the doors. “Well here we are. Erza is meeting with a few of our neighbors right now from Blue Pegasus, but she said we can enter once I found you.”

  
Lucy opened the large door and entered, holding it open for Levy and closing it quietly before leading the way down the large hallway to an even larger and very open room. The blue haired girl could hear talking as she got closer to the other room, a womans’ voice, strong and confident sounding, the other was a mans’. As they entered the room, Levys’ eyes grew wide at the sight before her. A slightly larger centaur than Lucy stood before four Pegasi, one was clearly the leader as he stood in front of the other three, speaking with the centaur.

  
Levy guessed this centaur was Erza. She had scarlet red hair, with a scarlet coat and tail to match. As beautiful as she looked, she also had a sense of power and strength about her. She wore silver armor over her torso with a brown belt around her waist where her centaur half began. Her scarlet red hair was pulled back into a long ponytail. She spoke with such a commanding voice that it sent chills down Levy’s spine. Levy noticed Erza glance back at the two of them before continuing her conversation with the pegasus before her. The scarlet haired centaur closed her eyes and lowered her head as she spoke calmly.

  
“Ichiya, will you please focus on the task at hand and not worry about the human behind me?” The scarlet centaur said calmly.

  
The pegasus before Erza spread his wings wide as he struck a pose with his legs, stretching them out in front of his body as he shook his head, making his mane swirl around his face. “Neh! Neh! Neh!” He said almost dramatically. He brought one of his wings to his chin as he spoke. “My dearest Erza, you aren’t going to be kind and introduce us to this sweet smelling per-fumed girl behind you? That’s not very lady like of you.”

  
Levy had forgotten about the chills she got from Erza as she watched the pegasus do random poses with his legs and wings as he spoke. She tugged on Lucy’s shirt, motioning her to lean down closer so she could whisper into Lucy’s ear. “Is he always this creepy? And why does he have… sparkles all around his body? Is that normal for a pegasus?”

  
Lucy giggled and whispered back. “I know it’s creepy. Mr. Ichiya isn’t the nicest looking pegasus to look at, but he is very important and has helped us out on many occasions. And we don’t know why he sparkles like that. It might have to do with his kind of magic that he uses but we’re not entirely sure.”

  
Levy looked past the one called Ichiya to the other pegasi behind him. The other three looked younger and were slightly taller than the one in front of them. They were all staring at the short girl beside Lucy, all giving her the same lustful look that seemed to loom in their eyes. Levy swallowed the lump in her throat as she looked back at them. ‘_Centaurs, and now Pegasi? What mess have I gotten myself into?’_


End file.
